The Will of a Pendragon

Festivals Need Music

    "I have a high tolerance for bullshit and you exceed all of it," Talia shouted from inside at the top of her lungs. Young and I looked at one another trying not to laugh. 

    Talia and Cam have been going strong for a while now but he likes to push her buttons unnecessarily and while Talia has gotten better at being patient- let's all just be grateful that she hasn't murdered him yet. Mrs. Malory hates her just as much as Talia's mothers hate Cam. Most people wonder why they're still together. They moved forward with their relationship too fast and they regret nothing. I personally think they need some distance. They spend every waking moment with one another and it shows. 

What do I know? I sometimes forget that Young and I plan dates. 

    "Babe," his humor-filled tone is not going to calm her. "Why are you so mad?"

    "f**k," she cried out and it was followed by something breaking. 

    "You knock," Young pushed me forward. I pressed the doorbell and the door was almost instantly ripped open. 

    "Tell me we have a mission and that stupid here isn't coming," T demanded.

    "We have a mission but stupid has to come. All of us do," I answered.

    "Can you please consider leaving him?" she asked wrapping her arms around me tightly.

    "Can you?" I asked her. She looked up at me with her glossy eyes and shook her head. "Me either," 

    "When?" she asked. Their relationship is borderline toxic but they love each other. Their strong personalities clash.

    "We're all meeting at the festival tonight for one last play and we set off in the morning," Young informed her. 

    "We'll be there," she nodded. 

    "Tell him your moms were right about him and he'll get his s**t together," I whispered before I stepped away from her. She smiled before she went back inside and shut the door. 

    "If you ever tell me that, I will cry," Young chuckled as we walked over to his car. 

    "Yeah?" I asked. 

    "Yeah," 

I let out a sigh. "Wow, my dad was right about you," 

    "What?" he turned to look at me shocked. 

    "I mean I already knew but now that I see what he meant-" 

    "Are you f*****g with me?" he asked annoyed.

    "Not yet," I smirked. A squeak erupted out of my mouth when reached for me, digging his fingers into my sides. "No, no, no, no," 

    "Take it back," he called out, hitting the brakes as he continued to tickle me.

    "Never," I laughed. Several cars started honking behind us. "You're holding up traffic," 

    "I don't care," he laughed. 

    "Ahhh! I take it back," I giggled trying to escape his assault. I took the seat belt off and climbed out of the car as fast as I could. "But my dad won't," 

    "Li," he laughed shaking his head. I started running toward Meerlyn's place. We both got there at the same time. I jumped over his car, landing on the porch. "You're dead, princess," 

    "That's treason," I laughed vigorously knocking on the door. Mr. Merlin opened it. I rushed in and instantly shut the door and put up a barrier. 

    "What is happening?" Meer laughed as she came down the stair with her little sister following close behind. 

    "This barrier is fun," Merry giggled placing her hands on it. It instantly pushed her back. She continued to smack her body against it so that it'll make her bounce off of it.

    "Li, take the barrier down," Young demanded. 

    "No," I snarked. 

    "You two flirting is a catastrophe to the entire kingdom," Meer laughed. "Let him in. I've made progress on the new defenders," 

    "You're gonna stop?" I laughed. 

    "Are you taking it back?" 

    "I did take it back and you have no idea what it is my dad said. Why are you mad?" 

    "Because you're being a bully," 

    "A bully? Me? I'm being a bully?" 

    "Yeah," he nodded. "Bully," 

    "He said you're sensitive. Like your dad. Which is why Gwaiin is his favorite," I let the barrier go. 

    "Oh. Whatever then," he shrugged. 

    "Simp," I stuck my tongue out at him. His emerald green eyes flared playfully. 

    "You two bring back memories from Amie's arrival. When she and Art first started dating. It was kind of gross," Merlin chuckled. "Have fun kids," 

    "Did he just call us gross?" Young turned to Meer. 

    "He's right," she shrugged. 

    "Hater," Young scoffed as we followed her into the kitchen. 

    "Alright, so this is what we've come up with. Since the knights all loved your new little invention, my father asked me to try some modifications," 

    "What did you add?" I asked. Young hates it when others tamper with his work and he's probably going to make her feel bad somehow. 

    "A shield," 

    "It can become a shield," Young rolled his eyes before he looked at me with a smirk. Here it comes.

    "Not at the same time," she shrugged. She tossed him a phone. He activated it and it opened up instantly covering him in the armor. She really did add a shield. Cute.

    "I have to hold this," he complained looking down at the shield in his left hand. 

    "Yeah," Meer answered not seeing the problem.

    "She wanted to try something new. You don't have to be a d**k," I sighed.

    "Li, show her what you came up with," he smirked. 

    "Sorry," I smiled at her. I pulled my pen out and activated my defender. 

    My pink spider crawled up my arm and jumped onto my chest before covering my body. The pink pearl color is beautiful. I've been working on these things with him whenever I have spare time. He let me add a few things to both our defenders and the new color to mine. 

    The shield I came up with is basically a copy of the barrier I can put up, it opens up into a shield, and can repel almost anything. It activates on the left arm. It moves and expands as needed and can move front to back. It also comes in different colors. It was my idea but Young ran with it and added traces of his neutralizing technique so that it can repel basic magic attacks. We make a good team. Sometimes. 

    "Wow," she mused coming over to me. "These are repelling sigils. Not just for physical threats but magical ones. Basics," 

    "That's right," Young said holding the phone case he put on her defender. "It's an add on so we don't have to create an entirely new defender," 

    "I love it," Merry beamed snatching it from his hand. "Me-me I want one," 

    "Not yet," Meer took it from her. "Black glitter. I like it," 

    "I knew you would," I returned her grin.

    "What about those who have a pen?" 

    "We get a dope new clip," I showed her deactivating my defender. 

    "Fancy. This shade of pink doesn't go with the gold,"

    "I never get them to agree on anything but Durendal and Exacliber both agreed on the gold. It was two against one. I had to," 

    "Consider a different shade of pink," she smiled. "Rose gold would be better," 

    "That's the name of the color," Young laughed. "I couldn't think of the name so I couldn't show you. I'll fix it on the way to the festival. You drive," 

    "I'll meet you guys there. Thanks for telling me my add ons suck, Gwaiin," Meer opened the door for us clearly wanting us to go so she can mope about Young's burn.

    "You're welcome," he smirked at her before she slammed the door shut on him.

    "You're the real bully," I laughed. 

    "You're the bully of a bully. It's worse," 

    The two of us headed to neutral grounds together. The people love seeing us together like this. It is a rare occasion when they do. Most of our media pictures are taken of us in our defenders or separately when we're doing our royal duties. They compare us and while it bothers our dads, we love it because it fuels our competitiveness against one another. It pushes us to do more and challenge each other more. It's both a good trait and a toxic one. 

    "This is my first festival too," Young admitted when we arrived. 

    "Makes sense," I smiled at him. "I've been listening to Primal music this whole time. Which way do you think they have the live shows?" 

    "Let's ask," he shrugged. 

    "Look, there's Pres," I pointed out. The two of us walked over to him and the girl he's talking to. Her eyes widened when she glanced at us. 

    "Hey, man," Young greeted him. Preston turned to look at us and smiled. 

    "Hey, guys. I thought I had some time before we had to meet up," 

    "We do. Just point us to the music section and you're free to go," I smirked. 

    "Music section? This isn't a store," he sassed. 

    "You guys don't play live music at festivals here?" 

    "No, the festival is for national trade," he chuckled. "What kind of festival has live music?" 

    "All of them. Music is festive. Hence festival," I glared at him. 

    "Festival means Armor trade here," the girl looked between us. I sighed heavily. I really miss some parts of Primal. 

    "I'm going home," I turned around making the three of them laugh. 

    "No, you're not," Young laughed linking his arm with mine so I wouldn't get-away. "Thanks, guys. We'll see you later, Pres," 

    "Festivals need music. Festivals need festivities. This is not festive. It's morbid," I sighed. 

    "Crystallis is where the universe gets it's best champions. Fighting is in our souls. This is what makes the people of Crystallis festive. It makes sense," he defended. 

    "I miss music. Live shows. Johnny Depp. South Park," I complained. He chuckled. 

    "We can recreate some of it here," he smirked. 

    Young walked over to an open area right outside the festival and placed his hands on the ground. Speakers and a DJ set materialized right in the center. I laughed as he came over to me and took my hand. It caught the attention of some of the people when he pulled me towards the setup and activated the lights. 

    "What is happening?" I laughed. 

    "When we were in middle school, you used to mix stuff for dances when you didn't like the music. You did at car shows. Show them something about you that isn't Crystallis. Give them a piece of your world just as they have given you theirs," 

    "I'm going to need more stuff," I smirked. 

    I placed my hand on the mixing table and pictured the first time I fell in love with life. Cameron and I had cut class our sophomore year to sneak into an underground rave called Red Matter. I was standing in the middle of the crowd surrounded by people who had just given into the sound of the music. There were red laser beams coming out of every direction. There were no worries. For an instant, I was free and the only thing that mattered was the sound of the loud trance music coming out of the speakers. Let's give them a little of that freedom.

    Smoke machines, laser tech, speakers, and turntables. I scanned the crowd until my eyes met his. I motioned him to come back here with me and without a second thought, he rushed over to my side and began to press things. 

    "Like old times?" he asked as he plugged us in. 

    "Better. New times," I responded to his enthusiasm with my own. 

    "Good evening, Camelot," I greeted them. "Forgive me for interrupting your trade, but where we come from, festivals are about celebration. Not that this isn't. I mean, I've never been more excited to use polish on my armor before," that got a laugh. "It's just that where we come from, festivals have music. Something-"I paused trying to find the right word. "Electric. Something with a lot of thump," 

    "I'm Cameron Malory, Knight of twelve," Cameron introduced himself. 

    "I'm Lily Pendragon, First Princess of court and we welcome you to your first Primal Rave. Courtesy of your Knight of Two," the crowd began to clap for him and us. 

    "I say we hit them with this first," Cam brought up. I laughed. 

    "Game of Thrones theme song?" 

    "What did you have in mind?" he laughed. 

    "Let's do it. Start it," I agreed. 

    The sound of the prerecorded bagpipes began. Young's mouth fell open with joy. Mr. and Mrs. Malory both cheered. The others continued to watch as the music began to slowly pick up with bass. We both moved around trying to make sure the beams weren't too much for them. We can't let them have it, just yet. I was trying to set something up with Cam placed his hand over mine and motioned me to take his place. 

    Somewhere during the mix and the sound of people cheering, I lost myself. Seeing them react to one of the deepest cultures to exist on Primal this way, fills me with joy. For the first since I've accepted my duties as a princess, I really feel like I gave something back to them. They've shown me and taught me so much since my arrival and this feels amazing. 

    "That was sick," Luc beamed when we all finally gathered. A little late but it was worth it. 

    "We have work to do," Young began to explain.